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Sunday, 30 August 2009

It is unfortunately rare that Insane Clown Posse get noticed by major corporate media outlets. So, we’re going to give them some love. Once considered in bad taste or just plain pointless, the bread winners of Psychopathic Records have developed a expansive fan cult for an underground artist. At their peak, the Insane Clown Posse released numerous albums in a semi-coherent storyline linked by “Joker’s Cards”. This series of seven “cards” introduced The Dark Carnival — a metaphorical representation of what could be purgatory -0 where one’s soul is judged before being sent to Heaven (Shangri-La) or Hell (Hell’s Pit). The most recent efforts by ICP (The Tempest, Psychopathics From Outer Space) hinted at the end of this story, but apparently they are returning to their roots with Bang! Pow! Boom!, scheduled for release on September 1st, 2009.What does this mean for the fans known as “juggalos”? Based on the audio sample promoting the album (scroll down), it likely means more skits, haunted backdrops and a slew of new tracks guaranteed to please. It also means a pretty extensive, yet-to-be-announced North American tour. Finally, Bang! Pow! Boom! will be released in three different editions coded as red, green and blue — each of which with a different intro and bonus track.

Bang Pow Boom really is a return to form for the wicket clowns along with a return to the styles of music that made them (in)famous with Great Milenko, Rioddle bOx and Amazing Jeckle Bros!

Swedish Rockers Gasoline Queens return with Gas For The Underclass, a great slab of sleazy rock and roll.Opening with the melodic high tempo'ed 'Down All Around' they set the atmosphere perfectly for this ep.Gasoline manage to write great stright edged rock, which just gets you moving no matter what mood you were in to start with. Musically very solid with very well written songs and a great vocalist in Dee Hoffmann.Theres not a bad note yet alone a bad track on this 4 track ep, it can only be matter of time before these guys break huge!

If you like great rock music then you're going to love Gasoline Queen.

'Slömber is a rock n’ roll explotion from Norway. Taking on the heritage of scandi-rockers such as Gluecifer and Backyard Babies, Slömber represent the new wave of Norwegian rock. With the rawness of Motörhead, the attitude of a young Guns n’ Roses and the riffs of Mötley Crüe, this is a hybrid of the best from all the last decades in rock.'Well at least thats what it says in the bio on their myspace page, and to be fair I can see where they're coming from. The songs are great, they do have the 'rawness of Motorhead' and many contain the ' attitude of a young Guns n’ Roses and the riffs of Mötley Crüe', but much of this gets lost by the production which feels very thin and the drums almost get lost somewhere in the mix in many place.There are quite a few great tracks here, and 'Dirty Drinks....' is a great follow up to 'Fire In The Jailhouse', but as I said the production really does let it down for me, but if you can get past that then you're likely to really enjoy this album.Looking forward to the next album, lets just hope that get a better producer!

Paalmer are a French Punk rock band that blend blend old school punk rock with modern 21st century rock, and tell you what it works really well.Musically they're a blistering punk band with developed rock edge, coming across as a beffed up Ramones at times, and the vocals are very reminicent of Warrior Souls Kory Klarke in places.

The songs are high energy and very well crafted, loving 'Punkrocker' and 'I Believe'. 'Sleep with U' is a great bit of punk fun and Ramones Fever is a brilliant tribute to their punk legends.

Bulletrain are yet another Swedish Glam/sleaze rock band (hell sweden seems full of em at the moment lol) this time hailing from Helsingborg,

Turn It Up is a strong Ep, tracks , 2 Rockers and 2 ballads, in the vain of early motley crue.

The songs are strong enough, the musicianship is fine, infact i really like two of the tracks, Fly Away and Turn It UpNot gonna set the world in fire, but will give you a great night out in a sweaty club.Id love to hear a full length album when they get around to recording one!!

Upper Class Bastards, formed in 2005 by lead vocalist Charlotte S, leans more to the traditional rock 'n roll side dealing more melody and hooks with a punkish vein and less of the sleaze or glam. Charlotte's vocals fit well with the sound having enough grit to rock, but sometimes not enough power rise above the music.Upper Class Bastards are nothing new, but they are becoming a large part on Italy's growing Glam/Sleaze Scene.Every song here on No Bless Oblige has redeeming merits coming mostly from diverse compositions that offer punk nastiness (Trip or Burnout), pure catchy rockers (Slash, Idol of Myself), and heavier bits with fast tempos (Out of Time Hero). Some songs simply throw unexpected curves like the bouncy, almost rockabilly, Bang Bang, or the atypical, but solid and traditional melodic rocker, Excuse My French. Besides the fine arrangements, the other star is guitarist Luca Spagnuolo who has a well-developed style that, like the compositions, transcends your basic rock guitar solo.At time Upper Class bastards bring to mind Princess Pang, with the female vocals trying to straddle the power of the music like a harley davidson.

The brainchild of musician John Taglieri, “Lives” was born of a series of songs written in early 2009. Taglieri and his co-writer Brad Whitley, in the midst of writing what was to be the second in a string of EP’s, realized that they had a storyline in their latest round of compositions. Taglieri took the storyline idea and mushroomed it. Contacting storywriter Gil Gonzalez, they formulated the EP/Book combination, with each track correlating with each chapter of the book released with it. Taglieri then contacted long time friend and graphic designer Tony Marchesani, and brought him into the project to handle the graphic novel side.

Chronicling the lives of fictional characters Cate Alston and Max Knight, “Lives” will follow them from their introduction and meeting onto a two-year journey of life and all of the ups and downs related to it. Self professed rejects, Max and Cate were always unlucky, both in life and love. Stumbling into each others lives starts a journey of discovery, and honest soul searching that takes them across the country.

Musically its very melodic, guitars very understated, drawing all your attention to the vocals (obviously as its telling a story lol)the song writting here is of a very high standard as is the musicianship, but concelpt albums rarely do it for me, as you always need to listen to the entire album as opposed to finding certain tracks that you just fall for...

A good ep to compliment the book and graphic novel, but I dont see me listening to it in anyother capacity then as back ground music. Sorry not my thing.

Friday, 21 August 2009

7inch Giants are a four piece metal/rock band hailing from Bargoed, Wales. The Giants were formed in 2004 when Jim, Matt, Greg got together with bassist Elliot with a mission in mind to play the music that they wanted to play. Thank God they did!7inch Giants already have one 4 track self financed Ep to their name,'Empty Stage', and this demo represents the newer songs I Guess. The songs on offer here are, 'Same', Song 54', Parasite','Mistake' and 'Hello'. Where as the bands sound does sound familiar, I honestly cant think of anyone that they sound like! They count Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Metallica, Incubus, Police, Chilli Peppers, Glen Miller and his Orchestra amongst their influences influences and this might go some way to explaining the high quality of their song writing.(with such an eclectic inspirational pool to draw from). What you get here are some razor sharp melodies, blistering guitars and a 'thumping back line'. The stand out songs here are 'Parasite' and 'Hello', but it really is hard to choose stand outs as they're all of such great quality!

Apparently these guys are amazing live, full of energy and talent, and maybe that's the best way to describe this demo/Ep.

Thursday, 20 August 2009

Lance Skybaby hails from Ol' Newbury town deep in the heart of west Bershire. After playing the scene fronting a variety of bands including his last venture with 'Skybabies', he has decided to go it alone.The result is 'Kick In The Teeth' which mashes his influences up really well making it hard to pin him into a specific catagorie. Theres punk, rock, reggae, country and plain old retro rock n roll here, all mixed to perfection. The songsa are really strong and performed really well. The production is really stripped down, which although Im not a huge fan of that perticular style, works really well!I cant really pick out any stand out tracks here because all five are all bloody excellent!

Check this guy out especially if your a fan of The Yo Yos and Chasers, as I think your love him!

Lance gives the best advice though, just sit back, grab a beer, turn it up and enjoy!!!

Tiny Terrors were born in September 2008! An all girls garage rock 'n roll band, very much inspired by The Hives, New Bomb Turks, The Donnas, Distillers, Danko Jones, The Jets, playing good old fashioned garage rock/punk,

The stand out tracks on show are 'Sex Offender', Hurricaine Brain' and the hilarious 'Her Dick', bloody classic lyrics lol

If you like any of the bands mentioned above then you really should check these girls out, they're full of energy and quick witted lyrics.

If you like classic dirty rock ‘n roll, Dust and Bones is the band for you!Dust and Bones officially became a band in April, 2008. Band members include Nick Elmore (lead/backing vocals/harmonica) Sean Quidgeon (guitars/backing vocals), Jon “Big Dawg” Jackson (bass/lead/backing vocals) and Ryan Riggs (drums/backing vocals). These guys are perfectionists when it comes to blending their respective talents.Dust and Bones are a classic rock band with a very hard edge. If your into the likes of Aerosmith, Buckcherry and Tesla then 'Voodoo' is bound to have something for you. Great songs and great vocals, musically its hard rock with an alternative edge with the guitars chugging along, but it really works. Stand out tracks included on this 13 track album have to include 'Feed My Disease', 'Dear Diary', 'Voodoo' and wickedly titled 'Whiskey Dick', which is funny as hell!

I love this album and am so happy that I Got to write this review, I just cant stop playing the lil bugger..lol

Rise East Strike West are a young band who only formed in early 2009, They have spent the intervening time writing and recording their debut EP 'To The Lions' in Oxford.RESW are an alternative rock band, who show a lot of maturity in both their song writing and delivery considering how short a time they have actually been together.

The three tracks on offer here, ' To The Lions', Steal The Sunshine At Your Peril' and ' Guns For Show (knives for jean reno)' are all of a very high standard, and are very reminiscent of another alternative rock band Kashmir from way back in the day.

All three songs tend to follow the same formular, which works brilliantly, beautiful gentle melodic almost Jazzy openings, building in intensity and heavines as the songs progress.Please dont get me wrong, each of the songs is very individual and distinctive, its just the way the band structure them.

Each of the songs get better and better with each repeated listen, each time giving up a new layer of soundscape.

Tuesday, 18 August 2009

Finally, the debut album from Scotish sleazsters 'Peep Show' is here in the form of 'Out For Bllod'.

As soon as you look at the cd cover you know exactly what your gonna get with Peep Show, a great big healthy dose of cock/sleaze rock just like back in the day with bands like LA Guns Faster Pussycat and Wrathchild.

What we get here is 10 tracks of raw, powerful jaw dropping pounding tunes!

Stand out tracks (if any cuz theyre all bloody amazing!) include,The Stand, title track Out For Blood, Take The Fall, and Cat Boy!

Track after track you get no ballads this is straight forward sleaze at its finest and one great debut from PEEP SHOW. You gotta add this to your collection!

I love this album, let the revolution begin, all hail PEEP SHOW!!

rating 10/10

p.s.There is just 1000 copies of this cd, but you can buy the tracks individually as well, both are available from the bands myspace page.

A new fusion in Metal Music brought to you from Madrid, Spain, Glass Spires brings forth a new vision to the essence of Rock/Metal blending the aggressive skills of Melodic and Progressive Metal realms with stellar Power Rock song writing skills of decades past. These five members debut with their first work comprised of eleven solid tracks that will slap a big smile on the face of all fans of heavy music.If you're looking for technical excellence, If you're looking for music that makes you feel something more than just high energy, and a little over self indulgent in the solos then Glass Spires could be for you.Glass Spires offer up some good prog rock/metal ala the likes of Dream Theatre, so if thats your thing then you'll love em.

Not quite my cup of tea, but if these guys learn a lil more restraint then i could see them doing well on the metal festival circuits!

Silent Sirens are a punk pop/rock emo outfit hailing from CHICAGO, Illinois in the good old US of A. This self titled ep is a pretty good effort too!

Opening with 'The Getaway', which is a mid tempo rocker, and very much sets the standard for the rest of the Ep. 'The Mess We Make' follows, upping the tempo and this song really shines! the other two tracks are 'Red Light District' and 'Bombs Away' all of the same high standard.The thing here is, Silent Sirens just dont offer anything different from a whole host of other emo outfits out there on todays music scene. What they do do though, they do very well, the songs are all good strong songs, (Bombs Away being the rockiest and my favorite of the ones on offer here!), they are well played and well produced.

If you like emo then Silent Sirens wont steer you wrong, if not steer clear.

Sunday, 16 August 2009

Full Blown Mosey are a classic hard rock band from the state of Wyoming USA, playing that classic rock perfected by the great bands of the late 70's.Their music is extremely tight due to having played together for so many years. Kirk Warren, Rocky Harting and Greg Scott have been together since the early 90's playing the best guitar rock around.At times yopu can here some great ACDC, Rush, Led Zepplin Sabbath influences which on stand to stand 'Temporal Cadence' in good sted.Some of the stand out tracks include album opener 'Mistaken', 'Fast Movin Shadow' and excellent 'Beserker' and album closer 'Now I Know'.To be honest theres not a bad track insight here, just great songs by a great band with crystal clear production.

Temporal Cadence has taken a while to make, with the death of a band member part way through recording, but eventually the band felt ready to carry on, completed the album and Temporal Cadence is the result, dedicated to the memory of Dale Ortega, and is a great tribute!

This album gets stronger on each listen, I imagine its going to be in my cd player alot in the future, especially if I have any long road trips which this album was simply made for, great driving music!!

Formed in 2008, Full Scream Ahead have done well to secure their emotive sound and get it on disc in such a short space of time. Ambitious but acuratley titled "We Write Our Own Anthems" comes across simply as the soundtrack to the teen movie of the year. ‘Heart Still Beating’ is simply stunning, really sending shivers down the spine.You can hear a little bit of My Chemical Romance, Minus The Bear, The Academy Is, within Full Scream A Head's sound which is good as it should help apeal the fans of these bands and help expand their fan base quicky.

Its only a six track mini album but every song hits the mark, Im absolutlely loving 'Heart Still Beating' ans 'As Good As It Gets', while 'Rio' offers a slightly mellower feel even if the tempo doesnt really drop.

A good debut release from a young band thats only been around a short while.

Magic Rocks by Cooper is the debut album with 9 hard rocking songs with fantastic hooks, crystal clear production and excellent playing by highly talented musicians. It's a short album, nine tracks lasting less than half an hour, and including three instrumental pieces. Old Man is a gentle, ethereal piece, featuring some good guitar harmonising and a bit of acoustic thrown in for good measure. Drummer's Paradise is exactly what you would expect: a chance for Paul Cooper to show off his skills, which are considerable. It leads straight into the closer, Time's Up, which features a good dose of heavy bass and shredding. Anthony Ristovski's guitars are superb throughout the entire album but the vocals just dont really do it for me, again thats my personal taste, and Im not saying theres anything wrong here, just Im not feeling it!Magic Rocks is technically excellent in both performances and production, but I feel that it falls down slightly by being that bit too polished, too focused on the perfection of the overall sound and lacking a litle in the passion department.

If you're a prog rock fan you should check Cooper out. Again not really my kinda thing but I can appreciate the talent on dispaly here!

Saturday, 8 August 2009

Just a year after forming, Lancaster-based Chase This City release six-track mini album 'Show Us What You Got?' flaunting a talent for penning towering, pop-punk choruses, that's impressive to say they've been together a short time.These guys aren’t creating anything particularly original or new, but so what? It’s ballsy, tight, and sharp. The songs are well structured and formulaic, but in a way that breeds friendly familiarity rather than yawns all round.Show Us What You Got is not exactly going to set the world on fire, but its pretty promising from a young band that have been together for less than 12 months.

Italy’s glam sleeze rockers S.E.X. DEPARTMENT are BACK!!!S.E.X. DEPARTMENT ‘s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” is the followup to their debut “Self Titled” CD that received rave reviews in the glam scene in 2007. S.E.X. DEPARTMENT recruited Pedro Ferreira the famed producer of the multi platinum THE DARKNESS. The album was recorded at the world famous Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire, UK ( Napalm Death, The Darkness, Simply Minds to name but a few).S.E.X. DEPARTMENT have managed to maintain that very Galm sound from their debut (similar to early Motley Crue if I had to describe it) just developed it a little more, allowing the songs to just grow a little. The 9 tracks on offer here are pure glam gold, its like stepping back intime to the late 80's brilliant. One song that really stood out for me was "Back In My Uniform", a ballad with a real bluesy inroduction that managed to give this hardened rocker goose bumps! To be honest for me its on the ballads that S.E.X. DEPARTMENT really shine, the other ballad being "Memories of the Sea".The rest of the album is filled with mid tempo glam tracks, one up tempo track in Italian and a really bad disco remix of "S.E.X. DEPARTMENT".On a whole a throw away party album, great if you like that kind of thing, luckily i still do!

Following hot on the heals of this years "Spirit Black" album from Jorn, come's "Duke Box", a 16-track best-of from powerhouse Norwegian hard rock vocalist Jorn Lande (Masterplan, Millenium, Ark, The Snakes).This CDl contain's "many highlights" from Jorn's previous solo albums and "will be an interesting item for all die-hard fans and 'newcomers' as well," according to a press release. And the press release hits th nail right on the head there, "Duke Box" is the perfect introduction to the past material from Jorn, whose voice to me comes across as the perfect mix of "David Coverdale" (Whitesnake, Deep Purple), "Ronnie James Dio" (Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven & Hell) and Tony Martin (Black Sabbath, Cage, Giuntini Project, Empire and solo). The music on offer here is classic rock/metal, performed to perfection, Iommi and Blackmore would be ever so proud!

The 16 tracks on offer here really do showcase Jorns diversity and range as both a singer and a song writer, there really is something here for everyone.

I highly reconmend this release, together with Jorns Spirit Black album (released back in June) as great introductions to a huge musical talent!

Wednesday, 5 August 2009

What happens when three three former members of Buckcherry reunite? They transform into a new powerhouse rock band in the form of Black Robot!Black Robot are influenced by classic hard rock legends like AC/DC and Aeromsith, while creating something new with their own distinctive sound.The band are driven by the vocals of Detroit native Huck Johns. If you haven’t heard Johns sing before, you are in for a treat. Producer Dave Cobb really pushes Johns to new heights on this cd and brings out some of Hucks best performances! But Black Robot are'nt all about the vocals, the rest of band featuring Yogi Lonich on guitars, Jonathan Brightman on bass and Devon Glenn on drums play their asses off on this CD. I am pleasantly surprised on how different this material is from their past musicwith Buckcherry.You have the stadium anthem “Baddass”, and the cover of J.J. Cale’s “Cocaine” which are sure to pull you in upon first listen.“Momma Don’t Cry” has an awesome Jimi Hendrix like vibe to it, whilst “I’m In Love” slows down the pace with an a very cool ballad. This song could be a huge hit for the band if they get the right breaks and some god darn airplay! “Money” is an infectious upbeat tune, “In My Car” has a good, classic 70’s rock vibe to it reminding me of early Areosmith, and “Love On A .45″ sees Johns channeling his inner Zeppelin on this catchy tune!

This is a great album with Black Robot proving once again the Rock is far from dead!!

Tuesday, 4 August 2009

This year see's the mighty Wildhearts (probably Britains greatest rock band of the past 20 years), return with a new album "CHUTZPAH!" (released August 31st) and The Only One is the first single released from it. The Only One is a single track download available exclusively through itunes and Amazon, its a great modern rock ballad, with very little of the Wildhearts classic sound showing through. Bassist Scott Sorry handles lead vocals here and he does a cracking job on the track he wrote, and as i said the song is a cracking modern rock track, proving that a band thats been around 20+ years can move with the times, but here in may lie the problem for the die hard fans. Very little of the Wildhearts classic sound is left on display here, the guitars have been down tuned, Gingers vocals are not here, but still its a great song that I could imagine going down a storm in rock clubs all over the world. Personally id love to have heard Ginger on vocals, but saying that Scott does a great job here so who knows.The song is a grower, so if your not instantly grabbed by it just give iot a chance.

London’s LR Rockets play new wave-inspired electro-indie in a style that’s seems to be pretty popular right now.I can see the a-side track ‘Renee Loves Losers’ going down well on a hundred indie rock dancefloors as the band seem to have a knack for up-tempo catchy tunes.B-side ‘OK Let’s Talk’ jumps out less immediately but it’s got a similarly frantic vocal delivery and a neat refrain in the chorus.

If you like new wave inspired electro pop rock ala Platic Toys you really should check these guys out.

With their debut release of "Impossi-bull," rock band Infinite Tone has compiled a collection of powerhouse rock songs. Very reminiscent of '80's metal, Infinite Tone centers their sound around big guitars and melodic vocals. The lyrics are well-written and are sung with confident and crisp vocals. The keyboards also play a huge part in this group's sound. Take note of the Hammond organ sound on the solo of "Burn!" or the chord stabs on the title track "Impossi-bull" for example.Like all good metal bands from back in the day theres plenty of tempo changes on offer here, and even a couple of slow ballads thrown in for good measure. A gresat album from a promising band, not really offering anything that hasn't been done before, but offering it as a great well done package, and i dont see anything wrong with that!Fan's of Guns N' Roses or AC/DC shouldl thoroughly enjoy listening to the edgy hard rock tunes on the Infinite Tones' album "Impossi-bull."

Eonian Records here release another retrospective collection of songs by another one of the bands that fell by the wayside back in the early 90's.UZI formed in late 1986 out of the ashes of KIDD. They started out as Dillinger, but soon changed to UZI. Uzi were influenced by the metal rock wave ridden by bands like AC/DC and Motley Crue, bursts from the gates with full force, pedal to metal, hook laden and groove driven hard rock on Madhouse. Title track, Rocker, and the rippin' Do What I Do throw caution to the wind with swaggering riffs and blistering tempos within a huge arena sound. Later, the explosive Raise Hell and the nasty, sarcastic Wreckerd Man blow the roof off.Most of the songs from the 1980's reflect the hard rock sounds that were in style back then. I hear Ratt, Skid Row and even Guns and Roses as influences. The production quality is consistent throughout even if the styles very slightly. They opt mainly for a mid-tempo approach, but handle a ballad good enough as well. Some of their later tracks are slightly heavier and much like someone like Skid Row on "Slave to the grind" they were attemting to keep up with the trend of heavier music becoming slightly more in fashion at the time. Really they still sound good on these songs even if it may not be their first choice in musical directions.This album is thoroughly enjoyable mainly because UZI really knew how to pull off and sell that great hook within each of their songs.

A highly reconmended album foe anyone wanting a musical blast from the past, or just someone wanting to check out what might have been.

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